Al Dente

What is 'al dente'?

It’s Italian for ‘to the tooth’. That means that great pasta will still be firm to the bite when it is cooked - yet it will be cooked fully throughout. A way to check is to look for a slight white core that remains when you cut into the cooked pasta. If there is no white core it means the pasta has been overcooked. The white core is often called the “soul” of the pasta. If the core is very pronounced, it is under cooked.